Published

Deadpool April Fools’ Joke and 7 Other Marvel Updates

It can be pretty hectic keeping track of all the Marvel rumors that skip across the internet on a daily basis, so here’s eight highlights from the latest production news coming out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

1. Captain Marvel Probably Won’t Be In Avengers 2Early scripts for Avengers 2: Age of Ultron purportedly made reference to a cameo for Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, and rumors persisted this month that she’d been cast for a brief appearance in the second Avengers movie, due out this May. However, Jessica Chobot of Nerdist says a source close to production on Age of Ultron have confirmed that Carol Danvers will not appear in the second Avengers film. Speculation is that even if Carol Danvers has been cast, it may be too early to reveal the actress, given the length of time between the 2015 release of Ultron and the planned release of Captain Marvel in 2018. However, she may yet have cameos in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War or Doctor Strange movies.

2. Luke Cage Gets Solo Netflix SeriesAccording to Marvel News, leading man Mike Colter (The Good Wife) will star as the title character in Marvel’s upcoming Netflix series Luke Cage, premiering in 2016 under the helm of writer and showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker (Ray Donovan, SouthlAnd, Almost Human). The character will appear first in A.K.A. Jessica Jones, another Netflix series slated for this year. Luke Cage has a long history in Marvel Comics as a popular character with powers similar to those resulting from the super-soldier serum, and bringing him in with his own series gives fans a new franchise to dig their teeth into.

3. Marvel Aims Young With Spider-Man CastingNow that Sony’s agreed to loan the character of Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (for heaps of money, no doubt), the hunt is on for the next young man to fill the red and blue Spidey suit. Marvel is rumored to have interviewed the sixteen-year-old actor Mateus Ward for a cameo in Captain America: Civil War, which begins shooting this month. If this is true, then even if Ward doesn’t land the part, we can hypothesize that Marvel’s looking at once again rebooting the character of Peter Parker, high school student. Hold fast, Miles Morales fans: your day will come!

4. Russo Brothers Hired to Direct Avengers: Infinity WarThe powerhouse pair of Anthony and Joe Russo grabbed critical praise for directing the early seasons of sitcoms like Community and Happy Endings, but made the jump to the Hollywood A-list with the lucrative and highly-praised Captain America: The Winter Soldier. After production this year on Captain America: Civil War, the siblings will grab the ultimate promotion with Avengers: Infinity War, Parts 1 & 2. They’ll be taking over the flagship franchise from director Joss Whedon. The Infinity War two-parter is slated for a 2018 and 2019 release.

5. Will Deadpool Will Be Rated ‘R’ or ‘PG-13’ ?Actor Ryan Reynolds, currently in production for his dream role in the new Deadpool movie, put out a humorous video teaser for fans this April Fools’ Day. In the clip below, he debates with host Mario Lopez about a possible “family friendly” rating for the highly anticipated anti-hero action film. If this doesn’t make you chuckle, then you probably shouldn’t be watching something called Deadpool in the first place.

6. The Female Comic Book Reboot of Thor Is Trouncing Its Predecessor In SalesAccording to Fusion.net, the first five books of the new Thor are currently selling more copies than the last five Thor books from 2012 by close to 20,000 copies per month, not including digital copies. Although a portion of fans with their heads stuck in the sand whined about the news that a woman would take up Thor’s hammer, be she worthy, the sales numbers validate the growing argument that diversity sells product. With the Ms. Marvel reboot comic hitting number 1 on the digital sales chart, it looks to be a good year to be a female superhero.

7. Daredevil Series Will Premiere with 13 Episodes on April 10thIf you hadn’t heard yet, Netflix has plans for at least four Marvel television shows to hit their streaming platform. The first series, Daredevil, drops this month with a full 13 episodes available simultaneously. Under producersSteven S. DeKnight and Drew Goddard, both veterans of Joss Whedon’s Mutant Enemy writing team, the short series adaptation stars Charlie Cox (the handsome Tristan in Stardust) as the blind lawyer who secretly fights crime on the dark streets of New York at night. He’s joined by Vincent D’Onofrio (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) and Rosario Dawson (Rent, Seven Pounds). Watch the trailer and start clearing your schedule for that weekend marathon.

8. A.K.A. Jessica Jones Will Land on Netflix Later This YearAlthough we don’t have a trailer yet, we know a few great facts about the upcoming Netflix superhero series A.K.A. Jessica Jones. First, it’ll be led by Krysten Ritter, best known from Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23. The actress was seen on set in New York City this March, so we know she’ll have a bad ass leather jacket in at least one scene. Jessica Jones will follow in the footsteps of ABC’s fantastic Agent Carter as the second Marvel television franchise with a woman in the title role. Developing the series is Melissa Rosenberg, best known as the head writer and executive producer of Dexter, and screenwriter of the Twilight film adaptations.